PRO BASKETBALL: NOTEBOOK; Carter Flies to Dunk Contest Victory

It was just as he had envisioned. Vince Carter took a bounce pass from his teammate, catapulted himself as high as he could and somehow managed to put the ball between his legs in midair. Carter was not done, but the rest of the slam-dunk field was tonight. He kept levitating before finally depositing a malicious windmill slam that rocked the Arena in Oakland.

''I had a dream about that dunk a couple nights ago,'' Carter, the Toronto Raptors' second-year forward, said. ''I saw it in a magazine first. So I thought I'd try it with a bounce. There you go.''

It was the third perfect score of the night for the 6-foot-6-inch Carter, the newly crowned dunking king of the National Basketball Association. Fending off challenges from the skywalking rookie Steve Francis and his Raptor teammate Tracy McGrady, Carter claimed the contest by flying up and over the competition.

After a two-year hiatus, the contest returned to raucous applause and the sight of Carter, last season's rookie of the year, ushering in a new world above the rim.

Carter also managed a 360-degree windmill dunk that brought the crowd and his peers around the court to their feet. The third dunk, on which he received all 50 points from the judges, ended with half of Carter's arm stuck in the rim for effect.

McGrady was awesome at times, and Francis's elevating his 6-2 frame and throwing the ball down was impressive.

But nothing quite prepared the crowd for Carter's aerodynamics. Carrying the ball like a torch, he pranced around the court before each attempt like a P.G.A. Tour pro lining up a putt on the back nine. Such confidence. Such precision. Such force.

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''I approached it as an opportunity to have some fun and show the world some of my talents and show them some of the dunks I didn't think I could do,'' Carter said. ''Honestly, I was making a couple of them up on the fly.''

McGrady talked about Carter's between-the-legs effort.

''I've seen a lot of dunks in practice, but I've never seen that dunk before,'' he said. ''I just put it out there and he put it in. Even though I've seen a lot of his stuff, it still gets you out of your seat. He jumps so high and he's so creative.''

Carter said: ''It's a little unbelievable to me to win this thing so early in my career. I remember back when I would tape and watch them all, over and over again.''

There was one drawback to the award.

''I don't want to be considered just a dunker,'' he said. ''I guess this doesn't help it, does it?''

Hornacek From Downtown

Jeff Hornacek may be on his way to retirement, but he is picking up some nice perks along the way. Hornacek, the Utah Jazz veteran, won the long-distance shootout and, with Natalie Williams of the Utah Starzz, the 2Ball shootout. Hornacek (13 points) defeated Dirk Nowitzki of Dallas (11) and Ray Allen of Milwaukee (10) in the long-distance finals.

Freshmen Win

Andre Miller scored 21 points to lead five rookies in double figures as the Class of 2000 knocked off the Class of 1999, 93-82, in the rookie game. Jason Williams of the sophomore team was 3 for 10 from the floor for 9 points.